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the scrutinising gaze of the cleaner should be applied to comb over susan collis’ inoccuous-looking work, which in fact hides gems and precious stones within mundane, everyday objets such as this broom.

looking closely at the detail of what seem like paint splatters, the insightful observer might recognise mother of pearl inlaids, opals, turquoises, black diamonds as well as pearls amid the bristles.

i like how the work plays with idea of what is valuable and almost invites us to celebrate the hidden heroism of the commonplace. all hail.i came across collis’ work at the wellcome collection’s exhibition dirt: the filthy reality of everyday life, an insightful thematic look at the politics of how society organises itself around ideas of dirt and cleanliness and how medicine came to grips with unwanted organisms.